Black Meteors captain Yaw Yeboah missed from the spot in the first half as Ghana were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the U-23 AFCON qualifiers at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Algerians took the lead against the run of play in the first department before Ghana equalised to end the game in a scoring draw. The return leg comes off on Tuesday, September 10 in Algiers.
The Algerians began the game better of the two sides and nearly shot into the lead in the 5th minute but goalkeeper Kwame Baah produced a fantastic save after a mistake Zakaria Fusieni.
Kwame Baah was called into action once again keeping out Saadi Ismail's shot at the near post.
Their pressure finally paid off in the 30th minute when they broke the deadlock courtesy Adem Zorgane after a great work by Farid El Melali.
Moments after the goal, the Black Meteors had the opportunity to restore parity from the stop after Dauda Mohammed was fouled. But skipper of the side Yaw Yeboah missed the resulting kick blasting it over the crossbar.
The woodwork came to the rescue of the Algerian following a low strike from left-back Gideon Mensah. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of the visitors.Â
Coach Ibrahim Tano effected two substitutions in Isaac Twum and Joel Fameyeh for Tekpetey and Joseph Paintsil after the recess. The changes had an impact in the game as Ghana piled pressure on the Algerians.
The Black Meteors had their second penalty of the game and this time made no mistake from the spot when Dauda Mohammed dispatched the ball into the back of the net.
Ghana threw caution to the wind in search of the final goal to have an advantage heading into the second leg but the resilient defence of the Algerians stood to the test as the referee blew the final whistle bringing proceedings to an end.
How both teams lined up
Ghana
(GK) Kwame Baah, Kingsley Fobi, Gideon Mensah, Zakaria Fusieni, Nicholas Opoku, Majeed Ashemeru, Osman Bukari, Bernard Tekpatey, Dauda Mohammed, Yaw Yeboah, Joseph Paintsil
Algeria
(GK) Zakaria Bouhalfaya, Mohamed Amine Tougai (c), Aymen Bouguerra, Abderahim Hamra, Anis Khemaissia, Kamel Belarbi, Adem Zorgane, Hichem Boudaoui, Farid El Melali, Ismail Saadi, Zakaria Benchaa
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